Page 39 of Seven is Swell

“Certainly, it’s not that bad.”

“I didn’t want to see them, or speak to them, because the last time we were talking, I barged into a room they were in, unannounced, tripped, and somehow managed to fall perfectly on top of them with their bare dick in my mouth. I sucked them off without their permission and we were both completely mortified and horrified and lots of other things. I absolutely do not think I could look them in the eye and speak to them. I need probably ten years or so to get over how perfectly choreographed that catastrophe was.”

Wil puffs up his chest and tucks his thumbs into his pockets, trying to look cool and collected. “That’s okay, Delaney, it’s happened to the best of us. I’m sure they don’t hold it against you.”

My jaw drops. “You’ve accidentally sucked somebody’s dick too?”

Of course, at that moment somebody starts pounding on the door. “Let me in, you freaks! Find somewhere else to do your disgusting oral activities!”

Wil blanches. “Is that Shelly?”

“Ugh. Yeah, sounds like it. Sorry, we probably could have gotten out of here sooner. You’re just so entertaining. I really do need to get to class.”

He unlocks the door to see a small collection of guys and girls leaning against a wall directly across from us, andShelly in our faces taking a picture of us. Everyone clearly thinks we were in there doing something sexual, but I don’t need an interaction with Shelly right now.

“Ignore her, Wil. She has no impact on us or our lives.” I pull him by the hand down the hall, away from the gawking, but I can’t help but look back to the small crowd still waiting around, Wil glancing awkwardly to them a few times as we disappear down the hall.

“I got you in trouble, didn’t I?”

He squeezes my palm but quickly retracts his hand to tuck it into his pocket. “It’s my fault if you feel comfortable enough around me to pull me into clandestine meetings.”

I giggle again because everything he says just seems to set me off. But I stop cold when I realize he’s wincing instead of smiling. “Hey. Talk to me?”

“Do you think you could get your mates here to walk you the rest of the way? I need to go smooth things out with my friends before someone reports something back to my parents.”

“They’d…do that? Those were your friends? I’m sorry, Wil. Truly. Fuck. I feel stupid. I haven’t really been very thoughtful about your boundaries. You’re just easy to be around.”

“That’s a high compliment, Delaney. Especially from you. Please ease your conscience, you’ve been wonderful. What is it the hip kids say? No regrets?”

“Well good luck, then. If you need me to corroborate your story at all, let me know. Can I text you this weekend?”

“If you'd like.”

With that he places a kiss on the back of my hand and strides back down the hall, leaving me feeling off kilter.

“That kid has no idea how much game he has,” August says into my ear as he covers my back. “I think you have a little crush. And what happened to not telling anyone about what happened with…you know who?”

“I didn’t mention who it happened with, just that it happened. He just needed some sort of explanation for why I pushed him into that bathroom suddenly.” I pause for a minute, considering. “I’m sort of scared to say the thing out loud though. I do think I’m crushing on him, which is ridiculous considering how many of you I already have on the hook, but there it is. If I say it and he’snot,then I’ll have to tone things down. But if I say it and I get a mark…am I ready for another one?”

“I don’t think whether you’re ready or not is really a concern we can control. Sometimes…we just have to trust that the goddess has our best interests in mind and knows what she’s doing. If she only gave out bonds when she thought we all felt ready, I doubt we’d have as many bonds to witness in this realm. If Wilford is meant to be yours, you’ll be ready for him. Because that would mean that he’s got a part of your soul, and you will be far happier with him your life than trying to live apart.”

I blink at Jackson, surprised by the passion flowing through his words. “You feel pretty deeply about that, don’t you? We’ve never really talked about this kind of stuff before.”

We start heading to class, their favorite one I have because they get to take turns staring at me contort myself in different positions in yoga pants and a tank.

“I might have gotten more pious since you were given to me, Delaney. Once I trusted the bond the goddess intended for us and I allowed myself to take what I knew deep down I really needed, my life changed dramatically. It's difficult to refute the claim of the goddess when there are so many things that don’t make sense otherwise. All the random ways your mates meet you, all the weirdly perfect ways your mates mesh together and find harmony... I can’t even pretend to want to be in control of any of that because I know I’d fuck it up. Not saying you would, but if he’s yours, he’s yours whether you find out now or three years from now. It’s not changing.”

I squeeze Jackson’s hand, feeling warm fuzzies inside. “That’s nice to think like that, actually. Takes some of the pressure off of me finding everyone. And in case you were wondering, I obviously put a lot of stock in the goddess; it’s just hard sometimes when I’m in the eye of the storm to remember that I can’t see the whole picture. I’m sort of feeling overwhelmed with all these relationships I’m supposed to be juggling. But you're all meeting me where I am and that makes the journey so much smoother. It just feels like there’s never enough time in the day to spend time with everyone in a way I really feel I need to.”

“Maybe we should shut ourselves in this weekend and spend some time group bonding. It’s a long weekend, what do you say? No classes the next few days. A lot of what goes down in that conduit bonds class feels a bit silly, but your professor does have a few good points. We all need to put more into the relationship if we want to see what it can really do.”

“I’ll agree to that only if we can look online to find information about goblin hearts. I haven’t really had the time to do any research; Leo is waiting for me to rescue him.”

“You’ve got us too, babe,” August replies. “We can all help you. We’re planning on helping you. Ash is already on it, in fact.”

“He is?”

“I think he’s really trying to impress you. Did you see the way he put cute little notes on the mirror yesterday before he left for work?”

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